Google Docs vs OneDrive

Google Docs is a free, Web-based office suite, and data storage service. Documents, spreadsheets, presentations can be created with Google Docs, imported through the web interface, or sent via email. Documents can be saved to a user's local computer in a variety of formats. Google Docs serves as a collaborative tool for editing amongst in real time. If you are looking for self-hosted open-source Google Docs alternative, pay attention to ONLYOFFICE.

Comparing Google Docs vs OneDrive is like comparing apples to oranges. Because your business is unique and nobody except you can decide, which is better for your company. But we can add some fun to your research and suggest some new comparison parameters.

Let's start with videos. We think that OneDrive has better video than Google Docs

Ok, now let's compare the UI. Looks like OneDrive has more user-friendly interface than Google Docs because it's bigger. At least on our screenshots

To compare the popularity of the solutions we counted how many alternatives people search for each of them on the Internet. And it turns out that Google Docs is more popular than OneDrive

Looks like Google Docs was recently more active than OneDrive (at least in our news). We also found some news, in which Google Docs and OneDrive meet head to head:

2014 - Google Docs for iPhone/iPad now can edit MS Office files to strike back at OneDrive

Google is bringing support for natively editing Microsoft Office documents to iOS. Google Docs, Sheets and Slides apps for Android and web browsers added this feature two months ago. With this, Google now offers the full-fledged MS Office alternative on all of its major platforms, including Android, iOS, Chrome OS and the web (it’s unlikely Google will ever launch a Metro app for Windows, though.) Microsoft launched Office for iOS earlier this year. To fully make use of those apps, however, users need a subscription to Office 365. Google’s apps are available for free, though business users are likely already paying for a Google Apps for Business account anyway.

2014 - Microsoft renames SkyDrive to OneDrive. Beware Google Docs

Actually, Microsoft marketers love to rename applications and services. For example, the cloud storage and file sync service SkyDrive during recent years was named FolderShare, Windows Live Office, Live Mesh. But this time the name change will happen not because the marketers should do some work for their salary, but because last August the British broadcasting company BSkyB won the legal dispute to take the name SkyDrive from Microsoft. So soon (Microsoft doesn't tell more exactly) SkyDrive will become OneDrive, and SkyDrive Pro (the version available for business users of Office 365 and SharePoint 2013) - will become OneDrive for Business. Currently the OneDrive promo site is available, where you can provide your email to Microsoft marketers.

2012 - Video: Google Docs vs SkyDrive

Microsoft continues to troll Google services with funny videos. At this time, they take on Google Docs. According to the scenario a group of young co-workers wants to creat a document and starts working on it in Google Docs. Naive guys don't know that Google Docs are only suitable for simple tasks and drawing a planetary system in Google Docs - is impossible. But it's possible in Microsoft SkyDrive. Even not in the Skidrive itself (it also can't do such complicated formatting) but in the desktop MS Office, that can edit the document simultaneously with the online SkyDrive editor. Note that Microsoft has removed the title Windows Live Office, which was used from the start to refer the online office, and now is using SkyDrive (that formerly was used to refer only the file storage).

When the MS Office Web Apps launched, only the Excel Web App allowed to collaborate on online documents in real time. Now the trick is also available in the online Word. Though it's not so cool as in Google Docs. To let co-editors see your changes you have to click the Save button, then co-editors will see the notification in the status bar, then click Save and only then see your changes. There is no chat / comments like in Google Docs, but at least you can see who is currently editing every part of the document. Meanwhile co-authoring in the online Word works only in the free Windows Live Office (SkyDrive) and is not yet available in Office 365.

2010 - Edit your Google Docs on the go to compete with OneDrive

Google continues to prove all that mobile web-applications can work as good as mobile native apps. After the great mobile web-version of GMail, the company has updated the mobile web-version of Google Docs and added the ability to edit documents on the go. Previously it was possible only view docs on mobile devices and only a few mobile browsers allowed basic editing of Google Spreadsheets. From now you can create and edit spreadsheets and text documents on iPhone/iPad (version 3.0+) and Android (2.2+). And Android users can even enter text by voice (English only). The text input in the mobile version also supports English only. Other languages will be added later.

Interesting that the mobile editing comes to Google Docs shortly after the release of Windows Phone 7, which supports editing of doc, xls, ppt documents. And, unlike Google Docs, on Windows Phone you can work with documents offline. However, the advantage of Google Docs - as usual - is collaboration. The changes added from the mobile device almost in real time become visible to other users working with the same document.